


A True Goodbye

by VerdantSunset



Category: Dark Souls (Video Games), Dark Souls I, Dark Souls III
Genre: Brotherly Love, Canon Rewrite, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Short & Sweet, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerdantSunset/pseuds/VerdantSunset
Summary: Everything changed for the Nameless King, when he returned to Anor Londo only to find it abandoned. The father who had banished him was gone, but the legacy of his cruelty still remained.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	A True Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nameless King returns to Anor Londo to find it seemingly abandoned. However, he soon finds Gwyndolin and the two talk about what this reunion means for the both of them.

For the first time since Seath the Scaleless left Anor Londo for his archives, never to return, there was a dragon in the city of the gods. The dragon was small compared to the rest of his kind, what was left of his kind, but he was larger than perhaps anything else in the city including the giants that guarded it. On the dragons back high above Anor Londo rode the firstborn son of Gwyn, when he betrayed his father to fight alongside the dragons he was banished and his name was forgotten by all. But his father was gone, it's the only reason the forgotten god could think as to how he could so much as approach the city without being shot out of the sky by Gwyn's very own lightning. The sight of the city itself brought a rush of memories to the young god, much of which were unhappy to say the least. He still remembered the last thing his father said to him, the words still sting like a wound that has stubbornly refused to heal. He reminds himself that he came here with the full knowledge that he might have to face his father again. Memories are of the past, he shouldn't linger on them. "Find us a place to land." He shouted the command to his mount over the rush of wind.

The dragon obeyed his master maneuvering to dive down towards the abandoned city. Almost as if to show off, the dragon waited until the last possible moment to spread his winds and slow their shared plummet. He landed on the twisting bridge leading to the palace, and the god steps off. "Show off," he said with a smirk. He ran his hand along the beast's long neck before scratching below the dragon's chin. The beast closed his eyes enjoying the sensation. The nameless god stepped to one side of the bridge and looks upon the city that was once his home. It's really empty, he thought. Has it really been so long? No, when last I was here the city was brimming with life, human and god alike. The city was eerily still, even the sunlight on his skin felt off. It's something no mortal would notice, but he could feel the difference. No, this was not his father's sun, this was something different. Gwyndolin. 

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, the sound of electricity filling the air. "I had never taken you for a fool brother, but it was a damnably foolish decision to come back here. On a dragon no less."

Seeing his master seemingly in danger, the dragon growled and stepped towards the new threat, fire building up in the back of his throat. The god without a name held up a hand stopping his mount. "It's alright boy." He pointed up as way of instruction, "Take to the skies for now. I promise I'll be okay." The beast stopped with some reluctance, it let out a low rumbling sound somewhat like a dog whining. It looked between Gwyndolin and his master as if to say 'can't I just burn him a little bit?' The god merely pointed up as an answer. 

The dragon relented, lifting off the ground with a mighty pull of his wings the wind from which buffets the two gods. In just a few seconds he was higher in the air then the tallest tower in Anor Londo, and a few seconds after that he was gone. The god without a name turns to look at his sibling, and for the first time in many years he sees Gwyndolin ready to kill him where he stands. "It was good to see you again sister." He said ignoring the numerous orbs of magic surrounding his sibling, ready at any moment to come crashing into the banished god. 

"Brother actually," Gwyndolin corrected. 

"Then you have my apologies, brother." He replied.

Gwydonlin's expression faltered for a moment before returning to the dutifully stoic expression he had before. "Why," he asked to his brother, "Why have you returned, you know I am duty bound to kill you." Despite trying to suppress his emotions, hurt and anger came through Gwyndolins voice.

The war god considered his words for a moment, "If you truly must, then I will not stop you." Slowly, he walked towards Gwyndolin who was dwarfed by his brothers size. He placed a massive hand on Gwyndolin's shoulder, "But please, can we not talk first."

Gwyndolin looked up at his brother, "Very well." He sighed.

...

The two gods sat across from one another at a small table. Small, at least, by the standards of the war god seated by it. The chair below the nameless god, which was clearly designed with human use in mind, creaked from his weight and the low height meant that his knees came up past the table. Gwyndolin, on the other hand, sat gracefully on a finely made chair across from his brother. The many snakes that made up his lower half splayed neatly under the table. 

The two sat in silence, not a word having been shared between them in the interim. Gwyndolin insisted that they speak not until they had been seated in the palace in a 'private' setting. The war god sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, his brother had always insisted on some level of decorum no matter the occasion. The silence was interrupted when a light knocking resounded from the door and a human servant, most likely an apparition made by Gwyndolin, stepped into the room to set a platter containing a tea set on the table before just as quickly leaving. And again the two gods were alone. The war god's patience was thinning at this point and he opened his mouth to speak. 

Gwyndolin held up a delicate hand, "Wait." He said, one of his snakes slithering like a tentacle onto the table. It wrapped around the handle of the kettle on the platter and carefully poured two cups of tea. Another snake lifted one of the cups with both hands handing it to Gwyndolin. "Alright, you may speak." He said, before sipping his tea.

The war god opened his mouth to speak, but in all the time he had been kept waiting he hadn't actually thought of what to say. He thought carefully, and decided to ask the most pressing questions first. "Where's our father?"

Gwyndolin took a long sip of his tea before answering. "He has made a pilgrimage to the Kiln of the First Flame, I have been ruling Anor Londo in his stead."

The god was even more confused than before he asked the question. "Why would he go there, it's supposed to be swathed in flame."

"Things have changed since your banishment, the age of fire that you fought against is finally ending. Our father seeks to postpone the inevitable by using his own soul at fuel for the flame." Gwyndolin explained in a matter of fact manner. As if he were talking about the color of the sky.

Despite the anger he had held for his father over the year, the banished god still felt as if a stone had sunk in his stomach. "You mean he's really gone."

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Gwyndolin replied, with some bitterness.

"What about everyone else then? The city is empty, where's our sister, the knights of Gwyn, the other lords?"

Gwyndolin sighed as he realized just how much he had to explain. "Our sister and the other gods have abandoned the city, I'm the only one left. Nito has deigned to stay down in his crypts and wait out the age of dark. Seath the Scaleless has similarly locked himself away in his archives, and the Witch of Izalith became a deformed monster after she tried to manipulate the first flame with her pyromancy." He paused, finishing off the rest of his tea. "As for the knights of Gwyn, Artorias has disappeared, to my understanding he died fighting off the encroaching Abyss. Ciaran, Gough, and Ornstein have all abandoned their posts, I'm told Ornstein left to look for you." 

"He left his post?" The war god was in disbelief, all his life he had known Ornstein to be one of the most loyal knights to Gwyn, never once faltering in his duty. Had he truly abandoned his duty for an oathbreaker?

Gwyndolin sighed, "I can't claim to understand his motivation either. It seems in the end he is more loyal to you than to his lord." He set his cup on the table and once again it was dutifully filled by one of his snakes. "Now if you're done asking inane questions about the state of things, I have a question of my own." The nameless god was about to defend himself, his questions were hardly irrelevant, but Gwyndolin continued. "Why have you come back?" He said slowly with a hint of his quiet anger waiting below the surface of the outwardly courteous meeting. 

It was a fair question, and on some level he could understand his brother's anger. He chose his words carefully and spoke from the heart. "I know from my questions it could seem like I've been out of the loop. And in some ways I have. But this," He waved his hand to indicate the world at large. "The world is dying, you don't have to be a god to see that." With one hand he fumbled with the hem of his scarf, an old habit from his childhood. "Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to see my family again, even if it meant dying?"

Gwyndolin's anger had died, he sighed, the tension in his body releasing. "No, I suppose not." He gently leaned his staff against the table before reaching his thin, delicate hands towards the seven-pointed golden adornment concealing his face. He pulled off his headpiece before setting gently on the table.

For the first time since coming home, the nameless god could look into his brother's eyes. To the war god's shock, they were glistening with tears. His breath caught in his chest, "Brother, I..."

Gwyndolin continued, "I don't know what reason you had to betray our father, to be frank I care not about the betrayal itself." He locked eyes with his brother, the hurt clear on his face. "The real betrayal is that you left. You left me alone, with him." 

The war god could tell from the venom in his brother's voice that he was referring to their father. He could remember the days when he still lived under his father's reign. The fury that his father held for the dragons, and how easily that fury would be turned upon his own children. "I... I'm sorry, Gwyndolin."

Gwyndolin had been holding his pain inward since his brother's arrival, but now his emotion came forward unbidden. Tears flowed freely down his face, "After you left, he became much worse. He feared his own children turning against him. In the end we were just tools to be used for his purposes. Even my identity, who I was, became something he could use to control. Another way to force me into the role I had no choice but to play." Gwyndolin could feel two over sized hands on his shoulders before he was pulled into an enveloping hug.

The war god didn't say anything, for he felt there was nothing to say to make up for his negligence. Gwyndolin relented to his brothers affection, crying into his shoulder as the larger god held him in a protective embrace. As he held his brother, however, the war god made a silent promise. He was going to kill his father.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to clarify that in this fic Gwyndolin is specifically a trans male. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding their gender, and no small about of outright transphobia. So I want to stay as respectful as possible about it. To me the item descriptions calling Gwyndolin male while also describing how he was raised as a daughter read to me like how many trans individuals describe themselves before they discovered they were trans. That being said, it is fine if you disagree, I just wanted to give my explanation for some of the content of the fic which could be confusing without context.


End file.
